New students at Concordia often have surprising histories, unknown even to them. Aiden Michael Zersen, a new student at CUW, only recently came to understand that his great-great-grandfather, Friedrich (Fred) Zersen, was the first to be educated at Concordia Wisconsin.
The Zersen family’s story is a powerful example of how faith-filled choices can echo across generations.
Fred was the first in the Zersen family ever to study in the United States. His ancestors had never gone past elementary school in Germany, but his father’s courage would change that. Carl Ludwig Zersen, the patriarch, knew he would inherit no land because his older brother held that right.
After being confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fischbeck, where he had also been baptized, he set out with a friend named Tegtmeier for America.
A faithful beginning
On the ship, he met Johanna Clausing, whom he ultimately married. Together, they bought land near Russell’s Grove, Ill., and raised a family of seven children.
One day, Pastor Herman Lőssner, from St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in today’s Hawthorn Woods, Ill., called on the couple and said, “God has blessed you with seven children. One you owe to the Lord”. He was surely thinking of 1 Samuel 1 when Hannah gave her son to Eli at the temple, but it was also a typical recruitment technique used by pastors to help the church prepare men for the ministry.
Carl (now “Charlie” to his friends) and his own “Hannah” decided they would send their second youngest son, a studious type, to Concordia in Milwaukee, a school built on the German Gymnasium model offering ultimately four years of high school and two years of college. The new institution was 10 years old.
So, Fred, his son, enrolled in 1891 with 66 students in a building that still stands on 31st Street, between Highland and State streets. Upon completing his studies, he attended Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, graduating in 1900. His first call sent him to Sikeston, N.D., to be a circuit rider responsible for establishing congregations among German immigrants from Russia. Circuit riders were clergy assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister.
Answering the call
After the first year in North Dakota, Fred returned to Illinois to court a young woman he had learned to know years before. A year’s correspondence led to a proposal, and Fred returned to marry Sophie Kirchhoff in August of 1902. They would return together and make a home in the Sikeston prairie parsonage. Carl was their firstborn, and William (Bill) followed a year later.
In 1907, the young family accepted a call to Itasca, Ill., a few miles from where Fred’s parents had married, and they served there for 38 years. Three more sons were born to the couple, and Fred surely remembered how, in his case, “one was owed to the Lord.” Instead, counting their blessings, Fred and Sophie decided to send three of their sons to Concordia Milwaukee.
A legacy tested and strengthened
Carl, the oldest, went first and enrolled in 1917. Bill, his brother, enrolled in 1919 and, after graduating from Concordia Seminary, was sent to Kelowna, B.C., in 1930. Ottomar (Otti) enrolled in 1922 but was only a student for a year before he succumbed to a diphtheria epidemic in Milwaukee. In June 1923, he was the first student in the school’s history to die on the campus.
Bill died of encephalitis in 1938 after eight years of service in British Columbia. That left Carl, who, after graduating from Concordia in 1923, went to the Milwaukee School of Engineering on the recommendation of renowned scientist Charles Steinmetz, and graduated in 1927. He would become a pioneer in the lighting industry, known throughout the U.S. as “Mr. Light.”
Carl married Alma Selle in 1935, and they had two children, David and Kathryn. With two Lutheran pastor grandfathers, David considered joining his friend at Concordia in 1956, but instead went to Valparaiso University and Concordia Theological Seminary, becoming a pastor in 1964. In 1966, he married Julie Schmid, and they served three parishes in Northern Illinois—Midlothian, St. Charles, and Itasca—for 20 years. They have two children, Kristin and Rolf.
David was hired in 1987 by then-university president, Dr. John Buuck, to become the dean of Adult and Continuing Education at Concordia, now Concordia University Wisconsin.
Concordia’s focus had changed in 1965 when it no longer provided just ministerial training. It became co-educational and offered courses to men and women in education and business.
An additional direction for the growing campus, which had moved to Mequon in 1983, began with the development of degree completion programs in seven cities.
David developed these programs, and his wife, Julie, became director of Continuing Education at Concordia in 1990. After seven years at Concordia, David and Julie moved to Austin, Texas, where in 1994, David became president of Concordia University Texas, serving there for an additional seven years.
The next generation
Rolf enrolled at Concordia in 1993, when the university had begun to offer new programs, including nursing and computer science. Unlike his great-grandfather, he could choose from numerous majors.
He decided to major in Broad Field Social Studies and to play soccer for Concordia, graduating in 1997. After teaching at Milwaukee Lutheran High School for 14 years, Rolf became head of the Women’s Soccer Program at Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2004. He served there as associate athletic director and earned an MBA.
Rolf married Leslie Verthein, and they have two children, Olivia and Aiden. Rolf continues to work at MSOE, now in his 25th year, having won more than 200 college games, four NACC Conference championships, three NACC Conference tournament championships, and four NCAA appearances.
Aiden enrolled at Concordia in 2026 after graduating from Hamilton High School in Sussex. Wis. Unlike his great-great-grandfather, Fred, he can now choose from the 70 majors available to all students. Given that he played soccer throughout high school, he plans to follow his father’s lead and play soccer at Concordia while earning a degree in business.
135 years have passed since the first of the five Zersen generations became involved with Concordia in 1891. Concordia has undergone significant changes over the years, but continues to attract students from the Lutheran community, as well as those seeking to grow as Christian leaders in the world.
As time goes by, the Zersen family reflects positively on the gifts they have received from Concordia, knowing that other families may also wish to explore the blessings that come from a long-term commitment to an institution like Concordia.
David Zersen
This story was written by Dr. David Zersen, who worked at Concordia University Wisconsin as the dean of Adult and Continuing Education in the 1980s and 1990s. He was hired in 1987 by then-university president, Dr. John Buuck. David adds to the Zersen legacy through his involvement at Concordia, continuing a family connection to the university that now spans five consecutive generations.
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